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Saturday, August 9, 2014

Stairs of the Nine Dragons...

I love serendipity.  I left Tessie watching Buffy and holding up the clamp, yesterday morning and went shopping.

One of the stops was at 22st. Antiques.  I was almost through the whole store, without finding anything.  Then, in one of the booths, I found a large glass vase.  It was filled to the top with all kinds of bits and pieces of jewelry. Even better, it was on sale for seven dollars!

Little did I know that it would solve all of my problems with the circular stairs on the tree. It had a lot of very good junk for minis, that I imagine any sane person would have dumped in the garbage.  There were even two very ugly watches that were still running...Hey! If nothing else I can salvage the batteries.

When I got home, I grabbed a tray and dumped the contents of the vase on it.  Then I spent a happy hour sifting through the goodies.  There were several little lines of metal train cars that, when painted will be perfect for mini train sets.  For some reason the person that had this stuff had a thing about gold miners... There were a bunch of tiny statues of prospectors panning for gold.  And they were gold.  At least in color.

The staircase has nine steps... I found exactly nine small, golden dragons.  They were just the right size to fit one on each step.

There was also a huge pile of necklace chains.  I decided to use one of those and make the railing like the one on the Tudor Trailer.

I used the same method for holding up the rings to guide the chain from top to bottom.

I found some gold tape and cut it in half lengthwise.  Then I threaded a small piece through one of the chain links(also from the vase) and looped each end over the top of the post.  Then I used a full width of the tape to make a collar around the tape.
It almost looks like a merry go round of dragons... But in this case, they are all going up hill.

Tessie tried it on for size(before the glue dried) and messed up some of the bottom posts, before I could catch her.
Actually, it was a good thing.  I found out that, either people climbing the stairs are going to have to duck or I am going to have to cut off one of the branches... I don't want to do that.  Maybe I can figure out a way to move it...

Anyway, Gordon Dragon likes the new staircase.  All I have to do is keep him and Tessie off of it until all the glue is dried.

I am going now to hunt for my Model Air clay so that I can start filling in the base of the tree. 

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

11 comments:

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. The Staircase of the Golden Dragons. It was meant to be!.
Phyllisa

Simon said...

Wow Casey!!! I love stories like this!! What an utterly brilliant discovery, and just when all hope had gone!! It looks fantastic, well done.
Hugs

Unknown said...

That staircase is totally beyond cool! Wow!

Vivian Fox said...

Hi Casey
I agree with Phyllisa, it was meant to be. Stairs of the Nine Dragons, has a real ring to it. It looks superb. :)
All the best
Vivian

Lucille said...

I admire your courage and your persistence, Casey! The stairs are amazing! I don't know how you do it!

Daydreamer said...

Wow, what a find!!! Those tiny dragons are awesome! They change the whole character of the stairs! I guess the terrace is now the Dragon's Terrace... guests better Beware!

Lisains said...

You absolutely amaze me. The stairs are incredible.

12Create said...

What a lucky find Casey. Dragon stairs are ideal. They look great.

rosanna said...

That's luck!!
Serendipity is just a word that I adore :o))
Rosanna

AM Minnaard said...

Hi Casey, I am a bit late to the party so I has some catching up to do. Jeez, you have done a lot of work. The staircase is Amazing, very Game of Thrones.
Hugs AM

Giac said...

Hello Casey,
I love the dragon touch. It really makes the staircase a showpiece. Love it!
Big hug,
Giac